Bangkok scrap workers killed cutting open suspected WW2 bomb

At least seven killed after workers brought shell from a construction site

A suspected World War II bomb exploded in the Thai capital on Wednesday (April 2) as scrap metal workers tried to cut it open with a blow torch, killing at least seven people and injuring 19, police said. Video: Reuters

Firemen and rescue workers at the rubble of a building today after an explosion at a metal recycling shop in Bang Khen district in northern of Bangkok, Thailand. At least seven people died in the explosion caused by workmen while dismantling a suspected second World War era bomb. The explosion sparked a fire that engulfed the shop, news reports and medical officers said. Photograph: EPA

A suspected second World War bomb has exploded in the Thai capital as scrap metal workers tried to cut it open with a blow torch, killing at least seven people and injuring 19, police said.

Construction workers found the shell at a construction site and brought it to a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok to be cut up.

“We believe the bomb dates back to World War Two and weighed about 227kg. As they probably did not know [what to do], they used a blow torch to try to cut open the bomb,” police superintendent Kamthorn Uicharoen said.

“The explosion created a three-meter deep crater.”

Pools of blood and body parts were scattered on the floor of the warehouse.

Reuters camera footage showed just the shell of the building remained, its interior a mesh of twisted metal as firefighters doused flames and burning embers.

Allied bombing raids on Bangkok began in 1942. Japan used the country at the time as a staging post for its invasions of Burma and Malaya.